Questions and Comments
2011

"I mean to sweep away everything off the face of the earth ­it
is the Lord who speaks. I mean to sweep away men and beasts, the birds
of the air and the fish of the sea, I mean to send the wicked staggering,
and wipe man off the face of the earth ­it is the Lord who speaks."
(Zeph. 1:2-3)

Comment:

On January 1st, thousands of birds in Arkansas were swept out of the
sky and fell dead to the earth. Speculations abound, but their demise remains
a mystery. Over the next two days, hundreds more across the south were
found littering the ground. Their sudden deaths also mysterious. At the
same time thousands of fish corpses were found floating on a lake in Arkansas.
Within a week, with reports coming in from as far away as Sweden and Italy,
hundreds more birds had crashed to the earth, dead.

Mystery is not the point here. In Bible prophecy, it is the signs that
matter, not the reasons why.

Thousands of prophecies fill the pages of scripture, but the total drops
significantly when it comes to the theophany itself ­ the dramatic
events on earth (and in the skies above) directly surroundng the moment
of the End when Jesus returns in the glory of God with all the holy angels.
Huge numbers of birds swept suddenly out of the skies, and the demise of
the fish of the sea are two of those uniquely theophanic signs.

Strange and rare, these current happenings come at a time when wickedness
has risen to such levels across the earth that Christian values have been
utterly decimated by its mass and force, leaving scripture broadly abandoned
and reduced to mythological characterization by the learned.

God and church have been replaced by the temples of money and a flight
to decadence. Anger and hatred have utterly smothered compassion. The very
air is charged for violence. The chaos reaches throughout society, from
top to bottom, from the ruling centers down through the populace. All have
been tainted by this satanic leap toward perdition. After carefully noting
the alternative offered by God, the world has rejected Jesus and chosen
for themselves the path toward Sodom and Gomorrah, a destiny of fiery end.

Even the ministry has been tainted:

"Dumb watchdogs all, unable to bark, they dream, lie down, and
love to sleep. Greedy dogs that are never satisfied. Shepherds who know
nothing. They all go their own way, each after his own interest...the upright
perish and no one cares." (Is.56:10-12; 57:1).

Zephaniah, the prophet who wrote about 'the day birds would suddenly
be swept out of the sky', did so in a book that proclaims a "Day of
God", and equates this sign with the divine rage of the end of the
world, a day that shows the Lord rising up to bring the entire civilization
crashing down on itself. He calls it a "day of gloom and
darkness". A "day of distress and agony". A "day
of ruin and devastation, a day of cloud and blackness, a day of trumpet
blast and battle cry." (Zeph 1:15-17).

This was not the type of news that was expected by revelers to be the
first greeting of the incoming new year.

"On the day of the anger of God,, in the fire of his jealousy,
all the earth will be consumed. for he means to destroy, yes, to make an
end of all the inhabitants of the earth." (Zeph.1:18)

"I am going to bring such distress on men that they will grope
like the blind (because they have sinned against God); their blood will
be scattered like dust, their corpses like dung. Neither their silver nor
their gold will have any power to save them." (Zeph.1:17)

The end, he states, will come violently, ushered in by armies and warfare:

"The great day of the Lord is near, near, and coming with all speed.
How bitter the sound of the day of the Lord, the day when the soldier shouts
his cry of war." (Zeph.1:14).

But then, at the darkest point of his vision, when all seems lost, Zephaniah
offers a ray of hope.

Before that terrible catatrophe happens, his visions describe the safety
of the Christ.

Zephaniah's prophecies segue between "that" day (God's Day
of Judgment) and a single alternative, an intermediary offered by God in
the form of a coming Messiah; an alternative that brings the only opportunity
anyone on earth will ever have to escape the cataclysm bearing down on
the planet from Zephaniah's future.

Though they represent two completely dissimilar forces, both of Zephaniah's
visions are characterized in military terms, both come upon the earth wielding
a sword of battle. They bring on to the planet two wars. One spiritkual,
the other physical.

These two wars, the Bible shows, are to unfold in sequence. The first,
a war of spiritual righteousness starting, according to Jeremiah, in Jerusalem
and spreading out from there, striking down across the world the souls
of those whose hearts are evil, a conflict that pushes relentlessly westward
from Jerusalem to finally culminate a full world away at the Euphrates
River where the kings of the East await. (Rev.16:12).

At that location, as the first war winds down, the second will grow
to full power ­ the war of tribulation ­ a physical conflict which
crosses the Euphrates River and ends only with the Return of Jesus Christ
to a cindered earth where few people are left alive (Is. 24:6; Rev.17:15-16).
In the wake of His Return, the dead will be raised, some to life and others
to trial. Finally, the entire scene will be transformed into the new Zion
of scripture's promise.

Satan was locked in devine chains for a thousand years to facilitate
the success of the spiritual sword of God in its march across the earth.
Michael imprisoned him in the Abyss until the harvest of righteous souls
had reached its intended limits as determined by God (Rev.20:1-3). The
incarceration of Satan made the Day of Atonement possible.

Once that "Day" (a day extended by prophecy -Josh.10:13) had
accomplished its purpose, Satan's chains were loosed and he was released
back into the world to mobilize the nations into the final combat his nature
insured (Rev.20:7-9).

Events of the last 100 years argue strongly that his release has already
occurred, and everywhere we look, the signs of his mobilization of the
nations for war show a conflict well underway. The battle line at the Euphrates
has been drawn. The troops are there, stationed.

The unfolding signs tell us that the time for repentance has grown exceedingly
short. It is truly now or never for all who remain uncommitted, for the
gods of gold and silver have taken back the rule of the earth. They have
contaminated all mankind and even swayed many who think to pray at the
altars of Christ.

With it's term less than 2000 years long, the short era of Christianity
(the millenium of God on earth) has come to an end. . No longer does Jesus
stand at the helm of the nations, a witness to the peoples, a leader and
master of their destiny. The people who once walked in His light are abandoning
Him and going away; choosing for themselves a different king. They have
returned to the darkness.

"When you cry, let your hateful idols save you! The wind will carry
them all away, a breath will take them off. But whoever trusts in me shall
inherit the land and own my holy mountain." (Is.57:13)

Escape this rush to Judgment while you still can. Heed the signs! Bind
yourselves to Jesus Christ today while He is still to be found. Shortly
now the door will close and you may find yourself knocking in vain.

January 29, 2011
Prophecy Quotation:

"I will stir up the Egyptians against each other and they shall
fight every man against his brother, friend against friend, city against
city, kingdom against kingdom." (Is.19:2).

Comment:

The significance of Egypt in end-time prophecy is enormous!

As we watch the riots rage in Egypt this week, Isaiah's forecast above
seems to have leaped across 2700 years into our own time as if it were
meant for this very occasion. Perhaps it was. But there are elements to
this prophecy that are too broad in their scope to lay at the feet of a
unitary nation. "Kingdom against kingdom" for instance, implies
an empire of many nations, all of them equally inflammable, and all standing
at the precipice of this rage.

With political riots erupting not only in Egypt, but across Tunisia,
Yeman, and still simmering just below the surface in Iran, it is worth
considering whether Isaiah's words foreshadow a Muslim uprising sweeping
across the entire Middle East, and raising up to power throughout this
region militant fundamentalist factions bent on Jihad, not peace. Riots
rarely bring order. Usually they are de stabilizing.

We already know from scripture that such warmongering powers are coming.
We know also that when they do, they will be ushered in with a loud roaring
across the nations, people driven to a frenzy to throw off their nation's
ties to western civilization and the previous civic order. In other words,
populist riots and pillaging ­ burning cars and buildings and screams
demanding their governments and others around them be toppled and replaced.

The stability of nations is the underpinning of the stability of civiliztion
itself. The Bible tells us that it is the fracturing of this stability
that will usher in the Madman and the time of tribulation. Are today's
riots a key part of that strategic rage of the nations so widely predicted
in the pages of scripture?

What we are seeing in Egypt may stretch beyond even the boundaries of
the Muslim world. It may be the start of a global rampage across the entire
world populace, inflaming the whole earth with the very rage that scripture
predicts will be a crucial symptom of the last days. A rage to which the
United States is not immune. And that may be why the Spirit of God prompted
Isaiah to write the verse as he did.

"I will stir up the Egyptians against each other and they shall
fight every man against his brother, friend against friend, city against
city, kingdom against kingdom." (Is.19:2).

"Why this uproar among the nations? Why this impotent muttering
of pagans ­ kings on earth rising in revolt, princes plotting against
the Lord and his anointnd, 'Now let us break their feters! Now let us throw
off their yoke!" (Ps. 2:1-3)

"I mean to cause many nations to surge against you like the sea
and its waves." (Ez.26:3).

"Vast hordes thundering, with thunder like thundering seas, the
roaring of nations roaring like the roar of mighty waters. He rebukes them
and far away they flee, driven off like chaff on the mountains before the
wind, like an eddy of dust before the storm. At evening all was terror;
before morning comes they are no more." (Is.17:12-14).

The raging seas are the people rioting: That is what almost all Bible
scholars say.

"The angel continued, 'The waters you saw, beside which the prostitute
was sitting, are all the peoples, the populations, the nations and the
languages." (Rev.17:15).

"Listen. An uproar from the city! A voice from the Temple! The
voice of God bringing retribution on his enemies." (Is.66:6).

"The nations have sunk into a pit of their own making. They are
caught by the feet in the snare they themselves set. God has given judgment,
He has trapped the wicked in the work of their own hands." (Ps. 9:15).

"The sea will rise over Babylon, she will sink under its roaring
waves." (Jer.51:42).

Can the riots of Egypt by a portent of what is about to happen here
and to western civilization?

There is growing reason to accept the western world, especially the
United States, metaphorically as the "Egypt" of end-time prophecy.
I have documented this many times on these web pages. Three of the clearest
examples come from the book of Jeremiah, and involve the relationship between
the new state of Israel and our own nation.

I will go into this again more fully below.

But first, as the United States continues to descend into a deepening
political and social hatred that has lately divided the country into polar
opposites, Isaiah's prophecy above seems also to link our nation with the
Egypt metaphore in terms of populist upheaval. We have experienced one
such war already, arguably the bloodiest conflict of its nature ever fought.
Another civil war seems unthinkable, but the current tone of the country
implies violent conflict.

We find ourselves today embroiled in a second round of interneccine
strife with sufficient imbedded vitriole that it may be speeding that prophecy
toward an even greater relevance. The hot-tempered display of guns and
fanatical speech underscore an antipathy and bigotry in America not seen
since the 1860's. The malevolence surrounding us today highlights a pervasive
political loathing that not only blankets the American landscape, but which
has filtered itself into the marbled halls of our federal , state and local
governments.

Today almost a third of the nation's people are at war with the United
States government. They say they are arming themselves for the day of battle
(against it). They want our country torn down to the roots and demolished.
And from the ruins, their own monetary utopia contructed.

Engineered by fear and the love of money, a politics of oligarchy has
absorbed those who govern the land. In its wake, the seats of congress
are falling like dominoes to those who pander to the bullies of finance
and industry and to their demands that the welfare of the populace and
the good of the country be thrown under the bus of greed.

As the calls to incitement grow more shrill and the swagger of militia
and display of weapons and ammunition grow more bold, a terrified media
ponders where it will all lead . They are watchdogs silenced by fear. Instead
of barking a loud alert as they should, many quietly lead the robbers to
the silver.

In 1865 a similar polarity ended at Appomatox. This fact shows that
the prophecy of Isaiah has possible credence either way. It may already
have come true. Or it may be heading for a climactic reprise. The current
fracture lines are little different from the original.

End-time prophecies linking the Unted States of the last two centuries
to the "Egypt" metaphore are much too strong to be ignored or
simply waved away.

Today's Israeli state was born in 1948, when it was allowed to come
into existance by a United Nations in shock over the atrocities of Hitler's
holocaust ­ a genocide aimed at the global extermination of the
Jewish people. This U.N. edict seemed to many to finally bring to conclusion
the 2000-year Diaspora that had kept the Jews from the lands of their forefathers
since losing them to the Roman Empire in the first century A.D.

A closer inspection of prophecy, however, contradicts that interpretation.
The Book of Chronicles, as well as the books of Daniel, Isaiah, Revelation,
and others indicate clearly that the Diaspora cannot end until a Prince
of Persia appears and issues a decree to that end. This has not yet happened.
Modern Persia, in fact, voted against the formation of the recent Jewish
state.

Instead, we must look to another prophecy ­ one specific to the
return, yet involving Babylon, not Persia (because the U.N. is a product
of Babylon). There is only one, and it is dynamically cataloged in the
Book of Jeremiah. It is specific to the king of Babylon, and it is enormous
in size, not simply mentioned in passing. It is several pages of scripture
long ­ from Jeremiah chapter 42 through chapter 46.

Jeremiah shows an amendment to the exile brokered by himself not only
with God's approval, but with His active involvement, between the king
of Babylon and a group of Jewish army leaders. This produced a returned
Jewish nation far in advance of the official return, born on "Babylonian"
terms, not "Persian" terms. Not only that, it mimics the 1948
return in a number of very specific and astonishing ways.

Scripture clearly shows Rome to be the successor to the myriad prophecies
of Babylon scattered throughout its pages. The Diaspora was an exile to
Rome­to the western world. Thus Rome's prophetic name, "Babylon".
Hence, the prophecy of Micah:

"Writhe, cry out daughter of Zion, for now you have to leave the
city and live in the open country. To Babylon you must go and there you
will be rescued; There God will ransom you out of the power of your enemies."
(Micah 4:10).

The Diaspora is a captivity of the two Houses of Israel, not just the
Jews. It is a captivity that stretches across the entire world (Babylon),
and it prevents both Houses of Israel from nationalizing the lands of Palestine
in their own names.

As long as the leading Church in Christendom, the Vatican, continues
held in Rome (the city of its captivity) that city and all of its tributaries
and offsprng (out of which has been created all of western civilization,
all of its societies and culture) will remain the figurehead of the Babylonian
metaphore. Any action instituted outside of Persia (metaphore for the East)
has to be seen as Babylonian in origin. Micah's prophecy shows that the
Diaspora was an act of God to this end.

Jeremiah and God were closely involved in the negotiatiions of that
early return. So was the King of Babylon (or in the modern case, a round
table of kings called the United Nations). Persia disagreed with the 1948
decision, but a large majority of the kings of the nations of Babylon agreed
to allow it to go forward and so the motion passed. A limited group of
Jews were authorized to return to the land of Palestine and re-format there
a Jewish state.

The circumstance and prophecy surrounding this early return stand in
scripture as a testament for the future. That return and the 1948 return
are two parts of the same formula. Jeremiah's words and restrictions apply
to both equally ­ one was made to warn the other. God does nothing
without such warning (Amos 3:6-7).

Very specific rules (legally structured in scripture by Jeremiah through
God's direction) were issued that governed the success or failure of this
early return. In Jeremiah's words, those allowed to return were forbidden
to make a military pact with "Egypt" and they were forbidden
from forming settlements outside the strict boundaries of the lands assigned
to them by the King of Babylon.

The new state of Israel quickly allied itself to the military power
of the United States, violating the first tenenant almost immediately.

In its violation of the second edict, not the Egypt of prophecy, but
the actual state of Egypt was involved. This made the prophecy true not
just in metaphore, but in real name as well. (Just as the riots today seem
to have done with respect to a global populist violence that scripture
says will usher in the retribution)

The first Jewish settlements outside the UN limits (their construction
overseen by Ariel Sharon) were in Egypt's Sinai peninsula. Similar settlements
were constructed all through the Arab lands conquered by the Israeli army,
all of them lands outside the boundaries of the United Nation edict.

Prophecy tells us that the modern return was for Israel's return to
God ­ to attempt to address the reasons for the Diaspora itself ­
not to build a typical world state with armies and worldly goals. Instead,
for the most part, God has been left out of the equation of this return.
So have Jeremiah's prophecies.

In Jeremiah's day, this apostasy was met by catastrophe. The entire
return was violently cancelled.

In that former case, the refusal by the army leaders of his time to
meet God's terms ended in disaster. The whole effort collapsed. All that
was left of that Jewish state were a few refugees. The exiles still held
captive in Babylon lost their opportunity of return and were forced to
wait for the Prince of Persia to arrive and issue his own decree of return.
His name was Cyrus.

Jeremiah's prophecy argues that a similar fate lies ahead. The Egypt
Israel depends on for military support will be drawn, according to Jeremiah,
in full battle gear to the Euphrates river where it will establish outposts
to block the armies of the East ­ an attempt to protect Israel
and the western world from attack. This will be in vain.

"Yes, the Lord God has a sacrifice to make in the north country,
by the river Euphrates. Go up to Gilead in search of balm, virgin daughter
of Egypt! You multiply remedies in vain, nothing can cure you. The nations
have heard of your shame, the dirge raised for you fills the earth; for
warrior has stumbled against warrior, and both have fallen." (Jer.
46:10-12).

Since it is American troops that now stand guard at the Euphrates, this
deployment must be seen as the third clearest sign of the United States
as the metaphoric "Egypt" of these apocalyptic prophecies.

If the United States succumbs to its own internal rancor or descends
into outright civil war, it will be a fourth sign that we are mimicking
Egypt in metaphore. The internal strife will so weaken our ability to oversee
world affairs that it will insure the impotence that prophecy suggests
is necessary to remove our nation from its current world role as policeman
and guardian of global peace.

The wall of Babylon is destined to fall, and when it does, nothing will
be left to stand in the way of a massive gathering of eastern warmongers
determined to destroy Israel once and for all. This is not a guess. This
is the stumble predicted in scripture that allows the East to overwhelm
the nations, so that by the time our nation recovers, the die will have
been cast. Then all that will stand in the way of the final battle will
be the ships of Kittim and it's threat of hydrogen bombs.

And on the other side, a Madman .

The Euphrates will be crossed. Jerusalem will be occupied by the eastern
forces. The settlements and their owners will come to the fate Jeremiah
predicts for them. And then, smothered in warfare and violence, as East
battles West and good is assaulted by evil, the world will await the appearance
of the Prince of Persia.

It will be the world that will await this time, because there are two
Houses of Isreal, not just one. The end of the Diaspora will involve them
both as the House of David in exile returns, threading its way through
the havoc to Jerusalem where the two will combine at that location into
one.

At that instant, Jesus Christ will return in glory with all the angels
of heaven in his train.(Dan.7:13-14). Everythinig promised in scripture
will come true. The "David" of the Bible will take His throne.
Evil will perish forever, as the righteous are raised to eternal life.

February 8, 2011
Prophecy Quotation:

"Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but
underneath are ravenous wolves. You will be able to tell them by their
fruits. Can people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the
same way, a sound tree produces good fruit but a rotten tree bad fruit.
A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit.
Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown on the
fire. I repeat, you will be able to tell them by their fruits. (Mat.7:15-20).

Comment:

Glenn Beck, a soothsayer on Fox News uses graphs and prophetic quotations
from scripture to give the air of credibility to the things he warns about.
He retails visions of his own, not what comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Yet he advertises himself as a spokesman for Christ.

The fruits he offers are calls to hatred. Using fear, he promotes the
hording of gold and food. His speech contains no calls to feed and clothe
the poor or to show love and compassion for neighbor or enemy. Just the
opposite. He sees half the population of the United States as dangerous
strangers, dupes of foreign consipiracies. People to be feared and hated.
The humanity of the other nations he sees as even more venal. It is not
peace that he preaches. His is a call to arms.

"Take care not to be deceived,' Jesus said 'because many will come
using my name and saying "I am he" and, "the time is near
at hand". Refuse to join them. And when you hear of wars and revolutions,
do not be frightened for this is something that must happen but the end
is not so soon.' (Lk 21:8-11)

"Even from your own ranks there will be men coming forward with
a travesty of the truth on their lips to induce the disciples to follow
them...so be on your guard..." (Acts.20:30).

"Yes, there are wicked men among my people who spread their nets;
like fowlers they set snares, but it is men they catch. Like a cage full
of birds so are their houses full of loot; they have grown rich and powerful
because of it, fat and sleek. (Jer.5:26)

Yes, in wickedness they go to any lengths, they have no respect for
rights, for orphans' rights, to support them; they do not uphold the cause
of the poor. Must I not punish them for such things - it is God who speaks
- or from such a nation exact my vengeance? (Jer.5:28)

Monstrous, horrible things are happening in the land: the prophets prophesy
falsely, the priests teach whatever they please. And my people love it!
But when the end comes, what will you do?" (Jer.5:26-31).

"I have not sent those prophets, yet they are running; I have not
spoken to them, yet they are prophesying. Have they been present at my
council? If so, let them proclaim my words to my people and turn them from
their evil way and from the wickedness of their deeds." (Jer. 23:21-22).

The fruits of those who promote God are filled with kindness, compassion,
love and peace.

"Is not this the sort of fast that pleases me ­it is the Lord
God who speaks ­to break unjust fetters and undo the thongs of the
yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and break every shackle, to share your
bread with the hungry, and shelter the homeless poor, to clothe the man
you see to be naked and not turn from your own kin? then will your light
shine like the dawn and your wound be quickly healed over. (Is.58:6-8)

Your integrity will go before you and the glory of the Lord behind you.
Cry, and the Lord will answer; call and he will say, 'I am here', If you
do away with the stranglehold, the clenched fist, the wicked word, if you
give your bread to the hungry, and relief to the oppressed, your light
will rise in the darkness, and your shadows become like noon. The Lord
will always guide you, giving you relief in desert places. (Is.58:8-11).

Beck's message is for this world, it is not from God, and it is not
about God. It does not lead to God. Those who wish to escape what is coming
by aligning themselves with Jesus Christ must take a different path entirely.

The prophecies of scripture lead not to fear and hate, but to love,
compassion for one another, integrity and humility. And through those,
into eternal life. Jesus Christ, the light of the nations, has made it
so.

March 4, 2011
Prophecy Quotation:

"You are from below; I am from above. you are of this world; I
am not of this world. I have told you already: You will die in your sins.
Yes, if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."
(John 8:23-24)

Comment:

The word of God has only one source on earth: Jesus Christ. No other
person, alive or dead, has ever gone up to heaven to hear it and no one
has ever come down from heaven with it, except Jesus.

"No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from
heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven..." (John 3:13).

"My teaching is not from myself: it comes from the one who sent
me..." (John 7:16)

God authorized Moses to state the Law in His name, and the prophets
to speak in His name. Yet neither spoke the actual word of God. None of
them had ever been in heaven to hear it. In all cases, their words
were reflections of God ­ man-made impressions of God. There was no
power in them to give eternal life.

In Jesus' case, it was much different.

"I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father
except through me. If you know me, you know my Father too. From this moment
you know him and have seen him." (John 14:6-7).

"I tell you solemnly, whoever listens to my words, and believes
in the one who sent me, has eternal life; without being brought to judgement
he has passed from death to life." (John 5:24)

"For the Father, who is the source of life, has made the Son the
source of life; and because he is the son of Man, has appointed him supreme
judge." (John 5:26-27)

An impression is like a painting. In the Louvre one might see
a painting by Monet of a lily pond. Yet, for all its beauty it is only
canvas and paint, not the real lily pond. This is like Moses and the prophets,
we see their reflections on God ­ man-made impressions. Jesus, on the
other hand, is like the real lily pond itself. Vastly different, because
in the case of Christ, His words are eternal. They will never pass away.

While God authorized Moses and the prophets to speak in His name, He
did so with so with specific reservations. God put His seal on their words
­ but only for a time.

This seal was why Jesus had to fulfill their writings. He purposely
made their words come true.

This happened because of the theophany at Sinai, the frightening event
that occurred at the time of Moses when God was coming down to give the
Israelites His Law in person. As He descended the mountain, violent earthquakes
began shaking the ground, the mountain caught fire and was engulfed in
great dark clouds out of which lightning flashed and booming thunder cascaded.
(Ex.19:1-19; 20:18-19).

Terrified by the sight and fearing many of them would die, the Isrealites
begged Moses to have God stop His approach and, instead, to send an intermediary
in His place. Moses went up the mountain toward God and voiced the people's
concern. God agreed to the request and it is this agreement that structured
the Messiah into the Hebrew religion.(Dt.18:15-19).

From that moment on, the Hebrew religion revolved soley around the coming
Messiah who would bring God's true Law. In the meantime, God authorized
Moses to bind on the people of Israel a temporary Law (a Guardian Covenant)
to keep them righteous until the Messiah appeared with the words of the
True Father.

The entire Hebrew religion is built on this expectation. (Is.9:5-7;
Micah 5:2-3).

In keeping the Law that Moses decreed, Jesus fulfilled it and took control
of it. In that position of control, He went to the cross with all the sins
of mankind on his shouilders, paying in full every iota of the Law's demands
for sins restitution. As master of the Law, He paid its penalty in our
names. (Is.53:4-6).

All who accept God's sacrifice are instantly freed from the Law's sentence
of death. This new mark of innocence (baptism in His name) frees us to
follow Him out of the prison, to walk in His footsteps to eternal life.
Staying put is not an option. Leaving is an emperative because this world,
this prison, this entire universe, is passing away violently and eternally.
Much faster than most of us think. And anyone left behind in it will suffer
it's annhilation, baptised or not (Is.52:11-12; Jer.51:50)

To leave, we must walk in Christ's footsteps of righteousness. Only
in that way can we escape the danger.

Not only can we see the relationship between Moses and Jesus in the
paintings in a museum, we can see the same kind of relationship in the
celestial metaphore of sun and moon in the sky above our heads.

In the moon, we see reflected light. there is no life in the moon's
reflected light. Nothing grows by the energy it emits. It's only light
is a reflection of the sun. The sun is the moon's polar opposite. The sun
is the source of all life on earth. It's energy to give life is enormous.
Nothing on earth has living existance except by the energy given off by
the sun.

Yet for all its power to give life and sustain it on earth, the sun
cannot impart ETERNAL life. The life it inspires lives only for a short
time, then dies.

It is not the same with the Son of God. The life of the spirit is in
Him. He alone can give eternal life to mankind. The life He gives never
dies. It is raised up in His kingdom in a body that is everlasting. This
He has promised, in a promise He will keep in the same way He kept the
Law He authorized in Moses.

In this, God showed He keeps scripture. That is how we know He will
keep the words He Himself spoke even more than He did those of Moses and
the prophets. If He went to all this trouble to keep the laws that are
passing away, how much more effort will He put into keeping the words He
spoke, and those bound by the Apostles in His name by the power of the
Holy Spirit?

"I tell you most solemnly, it was not Moses who gave you bread
from heaven, it is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven, the true
bread; for the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives
life to the world.

I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the desert and
they are dead; but this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that
a man may eat it and not die. I am the living bread which has come down
from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever." (John
6:32-51).

"He who is born of the earth is earthly himself and speaks in an
earthly way. He who comes from heaven bears witness to the things he has
seen and heard, even if his testimony is not accepted...he whom God has
sent speaks God's own words: God gives him the Spirit without reserve.
The Father loves the Son and has entrusted everything to him." (John
3:29-35).

Jesus told His Apostles: "what you bind on earth will be bound
in heaven, what you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven".
(Mat 18:18). (John 20:23)

In Acts 15, the Apostles met in the First Jerusalem Council and put
those words into action. They separated Christianity from virtually all
of the guardian laws, from almost all of the Laws of the Torah.

This proved the True Father was at hand. The judge of the world had
taken His seat.

March 7, 2011
Prophecy Quotation:

"...As we see it, a man is justified by faith, and not by doing
something the Law tells him to do." (Romans 3:28)

Comment:

This prophecy applies only to those who have taken refuge in Christ.

Jesus died on the cross to give us this amazing gift ­ eternal life

According to Zechariah, one-third of the population will seek baptism
in His name (Zech.13:7-9). The other 2/3rds (of the people) will remain
outside this offer because they decline for one reason or another to take
advantage of His sacrifice. These remain separated from reconciliation
through faith. Christ's offer must be accepted to be valid.

God allowed Moses to state the Law.

Moses then aimed it specifically to the 12 tribes of Israel and its
converts. All other people were left out (those they specified as pagans
and Gentiles for instance). And not only left out, but excluded from God's
realm. This changed when Jesus brought the Father's true Law down from
heaven. He ordered it given to the entire population of the earth. Jesus
said God had no favorites and that anyone who does His will shall be open
to the entire mercies and rewards of heaven.

Yet He warned that not everyone who tries to enter His kingdom will
be saved:

"It is not those who say 'Lord, Lord' who will enter the kingdom
of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven."
(Mat. 7:21).

This is not a contradiction of faith but a definition of it.

Jesus' Gospel and faith are one and the same. Our trial by fire is our
struggle to live by its principles during our sojurn on earth. Jesus did
not leave us alone. During this time of trial we have access to God's fountain
of forgiveness perpetually flowing from the cross ­ cleansing us in
divine mercy and compassion, the extent of which He said, is dependent
on the forgiveness we offer to others. (Mat.7:1-5):

"Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge,
and you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn, and you will not
be condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give,
and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together,
and running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you
measure out is the amount you will be given back." (Luke 6:35-38)

April 19, 2011
Prophecy Quotation:

"Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared, and began to write
on the plaster of the palace wall...Mene, Mene, Tekel and Parsin"
(Daniel 5:5; 25)

Comment:

This is the famous "handwriting on the wall" of Babylon written
by the fingers of God that predicted the collapse of Babylon. It begins
with the sudden death of its ruler­ followed by the empire itself as
it is handed over for destruction to the Persians. All this by divine intent.
It signals the West collapsing internally due to the wickedness of its
people and then being conquered by a powerful eastern force as God begins
His final Judgment on earth.

This prophecy leads the Book of Daniel into a detailed analysis of that
cataclysmic circumstance.

The devastation starts with two Gulf wars pitting the East against the
West. Although the West is successful in both, winning apparent victories
each time, the turbulent aftermath leads to a disintegration of the unity
and economies of Babylon's far-flung kingdoms coupled with Isaiah's prophecy
of a civil war that tears the empire apart and leaves it impotent in the
face of eastern aggression.

The western empire ends up broken into four parts.

From that point, Daniel continues with a detailed blow by blow description
of western world decimation at the hands of the eastern forces in a warfare
that comes in two parts, the second featuring the Bible's "Beast".
This, then is the classic example of all the "east wind"
prophecies that fill the pages of Old Testament scripture.

In Daniel's case, the prophetic metaphore signals the final battles
and circumstances of the end times. It is specific to the last days when
the world rejects Jesus and turns its back on its Christian heritage, embracing
instead, secular paganism and malignantly deviant behaviors in a headlong
rush to hedonism as the populations of the earth stampede into Satan's
temple of riches.

Here, love in most people grows cold. Compassion for others disappears
as the quest for money becomes rapacious and obsessive ­ blinding everyone
it touches to reality or logic, and especially, to God and His Son Jesus.

The words of God's handwriting to Babylon tell the story:

"The meaning of the words is this: Mene: God has measured
your sovereignty and put an end to it; Tekel: you have been weighed
in the balance and found wanting; Parsin: your kingdom has been
divided and given to the Medes and the Persians" (Dan.5:26-28).

In other words, God has pulled the plug. He has given us to the Persians
­ actually ordained the hand over; According to Daniel, it is
God's will. Human lawlessness and hatred has brought the end of the world
very close at hand. There is still time to repent, but no time left to
recover. God's 'tractor beam' has been activated. The world is being ratcheted
toward an inexorable conclusion.

Daniel's word "Parsin" in the handwriting points to
a house divided. Daniel's prophecy shows that the unity of the western
world community will suddenly break apart and separate, and that fractured
alienation will allow it's kingdoms to fall into the hands of the East
(the Medes and the Persians). A house divided cannot stand.

This has certainly happened with respect to Christ. The nations of the
Eastern Hemisphere have almost all adopted secular governments while discarding
previous regimes structured in God. The entire religious character of the
world has been thrown upside down over the last 100 years. The government
of United States was the last of the major world nations to officially
abandon Christ. This happened in a series of Supreme Court decisions from
1963 onward, and continuring to the present day.

It could be argued that the United States was founded a secular nation
outside of Christ in the first place. But an immediate compromise to that
isolationist position allowed the country to procede as if it were guided
by God in every way. That compromise position was found to be unconstitutional
by the American Supreme Court and, in 1963, effectively denounced and abandoned.
God was thrown out of government once and for all. Every state was forced
to comply.

As a result, every cross, every creche, every religious display and
garland, every Christmas pageant and carol, every religious text and every
mention of God or Christ in the public arena has been yanked from its place
and destroyed. The order has been uncompromising.

This has certainly been one of the major steps in the world's abandonment
of God, but Daniel's prophecy of division seems based more on political
grounds than on religious differences or persecutions. In that respect
it is easy to see hatreds building everywhere these days. A political polarity
of militant proportions has already gripped America, and the hostilities
have put us at odds with some of our closest allies across the world.

We are currently fighting 3 wars at the same time against various terrorist
forces across the Middle East. These are forces that all claim to be Muslim
in nature. Their rhetoric and the structure itself seem to be defining
the architecture of the age in terms that are in agreement with Daniel's
prophecies.

The civil wars breaking out across the Middle East are quickly changing
that political landscape and redefining the boundaries of past political
affiliations. It is too soon to see if these will follow along Daniel's
lines as well, but the possibility remains very strong that they will.
When the dust clears we should be able to more clearly see the lines that
distinguish the king of the north from the king of the south, the last
two political alliances this earth will ever know.

Meanwhile, the United States is in economic free-fall, a situation made
all the worse by fierce internal wrangling over budgetary measures that
could halt its plunge into financial catastrophe. The intractable nature
of the disagreement seems to bode terribly for an adequate solution. And
so the civil war grows deeper and wider, and the American government more
feeble in its extended relationships.

The Unitied States as the wall of Babylon (the defender of all western
nations and territories) has been greatly impaired by current circumstances
and the question grows, where do we go from here? Does the wall simply
collapse under Persian assault as Daniel has predicted, or is that message
for another time?

It is not up to us to supply an answer. The answer has to come from
God.

Has He really pulled the plug, or is this all just an unbelievable coincidence
of prophecy meeting current events in a scenario positioned to suddenly
arc away and stand only as a warning for some future time when it will
all be repeated again? That sounds less likely every day, but it
may still be possible.

Remember, the pivotal prophecy remains unfufilled. Scripture tells us
that the proof of all the prophecies is Jeremiah 44:29-30. As long as that
prophecy continues in its current uncompleted state, the severest elements
of the end described by scripture will remain held back and the world will
be spared the far greater suffering which that deeper wrath portends.

The point is to repent now and follow Jesus. Go to church today, and
there offer your life to God in Christ. Nothing the future has to offer
can touch a person who has complied with that action.